Fellowships

Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics - Fellowship Training Program

This fellowship is through Rutgers Health Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. For more details, click here.

Program Director: Malia Beckwith, M.D.
Program Coordinator: Mona Matta

Program Overview:

As of July 1, 2009, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) accredited this program as a three-year fellowship training program in Developmental/Behavioral Pediatrics. The program is served by an experienced faculty with clinical, research and scholarly accomplishments.

The fellow is expected to be trained to serve as an expert consultant to pediatricians in the clinical diagnosis and management of all developmental behavioral conditions commonly seen in children, as well as acquire the skills to teach trainees and engage in advocacy. In keeping with the ACGME requirements, research is a required component of the fellowship with the expectation that the fellow will publish a paper or do a poster presentation at the end of the training program.

For further information contact:
Program Coordinator, Mona Matta at mattamo@rwjms.rutgers.edu or at 732-235-5709.

Pediatric Rehabilitation Fellowship

Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and Children’s Specialized Hospital in Mountainside, New Jersey

The fellowship in pediatric rehabilitation thru Rutgers, NJMS is an accredited, dynamic two-year program offered every other year at Children's Specialized Hospital.

The field of pediatric rehabilitation is specialized and diverse, given that the populations served can vary from infants to young adults, and the needs of these populations encompass a wide range of care. Pediatric physiatry addresses those disorders potentially affecting children on a long-term basis, often involving multiple body systems. The emphasis is on helping patients achieve developmental skills and independence in self-care and mobility appropriate to their age. The fellowship develops expertise in diagnosis and specific management techniques, and also addresses the role of the physiatrist as coordinator of multiple services, be they medical, social or educational, as well as the importance of acting as a liaison and advocate for the child and family. The fellowship includes patient responsibilities in both inpatient and outpatient settings, with the common goal of meeting the medical and emotional needs of patients and their families.

Patient conditions seen include brain injuries (traumatic and non-traumatic), spinal cord dysfunction (including traumatic spinal cord injury and spina bifida), cerebral palsy, multiple trauma, orthopedic disorders, neuromuscular disorders, burns, and chronic pain. Emphasis is given to working with and directing a multi-disciplinary team, including therapists, psychologists, orthotists, case managers, social workers, nurses, and other physicians to implement high quality, goal-oriented care for children challenged by special health care needs.

The Pediatric Physiatry fellow works closely with the attending staff to become proficient in clinical care. The attending staff includes Michael Armento, MD, Program Director, JenFu Cheng, MD, Section Chief of Physiatry, Katherine Bentley, MD, Associate Program Director, Martin Diamond, MD, and Marykatharine Nutini, DO. The attending staff has a wide variety of expertise, including Dr. Cheng-adaptive sports, Dr. Bentley-Pain management, Dr. Diamond-EMG, and Drs. Armento and Fantasia-Spinal Cord Dysfunction.

The fellow will gain experience in many different clinical settings, including at our 68 bed state of the art inpatient rehabilitation hospital- PSEG Children’s Specialized Hospital in New Brunswick, Children’s Specialized Hospital outpatient center in Mountainside, NJ as well as attending clinics at many of the special needs schools in New Jersey that we service. In addition the fellow will attend pertinent pediatric subspecialty clinics to broaden the scope of their knowledge and experience.

There is extensive exposure to neurolytic procedures including alcohol nerve blocks and Botox injections. The physiatry department utilizes ultrasound guided technique for the Botox injections, which the fellow will master by the time of graduation.

In addition to the outstanding clinic experience, there is a strong didactic and teaching component. The fellow will work closely with the residents from the Rutgers NJMS PM&R program as well as medical students from Rutgers NJMS and residents from the JFK Rehabilitation Program. The fellow is also given the opportunity to attend the Kessler Review Course.

In order to facilitate research, the fellow has the assistance of Post-Doc fellows as well as the Kessler research department in developing, preparing and carrying out their research project.

The fellowship was granted accreditation in 2011 for subspecialty certification in Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine. Graduating fellows are board-eligible and sit for the Pediatric Rehabilitation Board Examination after completing the program. The fellowship is listed under Rutgers NJMS on the ERAS and NRMP.

For further information contact:
Michael Armento, M.D., Program Director, at (908) 301-5416 or e-mail at: marmento@childrens-specialized.org

Click on a name below to learn more about the members of the Children's Specialized Hospital Physiatry department:
Michael Armento, MD
Katherine Bentley, MD
JenFu Cheng, MD
Martin Diamond, MD
Marykatharine Nutini, DO

Advanced Practice Nursing Clinical Fellowships

Background:

There are currently very few post-graduate education options available to Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs) or Nurse Practitioners (NPs) who opt to work in a specialty field, such as Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics (DBP) and Pediatric Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation(Physiatry). As such, we have offered APN fellowships in these subspecialties since 2017. In 2025, our programs were awarded National Accreditation with Distinction by the Advanced Practice Provider Fellowship Accreditation-American Nurses Credentialing Center.

Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics

Overview:

The Developmental Behavioral APN Fellowship is an intensive 12-month program designed to provide advanced didactic education with focused clinical experience to prepare APNs to provide optimal care to children with developmental needs. The APN Fellowship Program is integrated with the ACGME Fellowship program in Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics at CSH so that APN fellows will receive comparable training and experiences in the first year. The goal of the program is to provide APNs with depth, breadth, volume, and intensity of clinical training to independently manage children with special health care needs. Fellows also complete the LEND (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities) Fellowship at the Boggs Center on Disability and Human Developmental at Rutgers University. Graduates of this APN fellowship will receive a certificate of completion from CSH. Fellows are also required to complete the KySS Online Child and Adolescent Mental Health Fellowship from Ohio State University.

Purpose:

The DBP-APN Fellowship program will provide the trainee with varied clinical, research and educational opportunities to prepare them for autonomous practice at CSH. The fellow will be provided opportunities for the following during their fellowship:

• Education on the complex developmental processes of infants, children, adolescents and young adults, in the context of their families and communities.
• Education on the biological, psychological, and social influences on development in the emotional, social, motor, language, and cognitive domains.
• Education on the mechanisms for primary and secondary prevention of disorders in behavior and development;
• Identification and treatment of neurobiological, educational and behavioral disorders throughout childhood and adolescence.

Fellowship plan

Team members:

Oversight of the program will be by the Program Coordinator of the APN Fellowships, in conjunction with the Chief Medical Officer and the Section Chief for Neurodevelopmental Pediatrics. The primary preceptor will be an interested and willing physician who has completed a GME developmental behavior pediatric training program in addition to a senior APN for APN role development.

The program will support one APN per year and be one year in length.

Application process:

Qualifications of the applicant include Master’s or Doctoral degree in nursing, with a minimum 3.5 GPA, national board certification as an NP, NJ state RN license and APN certification, CDS, DEA, and BLS. New graduates will be considered and prior experience as an APN is not necessary. Pediatric Nurse Practitioners are preferred, Family Nurse Practitioners with a strong pediatric nursing background will also be considered.

Application will include a narrative statement of interest in this specialty and goals for future professional growth, as well as 3 professional references.

Benefits:

The fellow will be considered a full-time salaried employee of CSH. They will be eligible for benefits/paid time off and will be a member of the medical staff. The individual chosen for the fellowship will sign a three-year employment contract, one year of full-time fellowship, and two years of full-time employment within Children's Specialized Hospital upon successful completion of the program.

The general overview of the fellow’s education time will be as follows:

• Didactic lectures (~ 100 hours)
  • Set lectures with developmental peds fellow every Thursday
    • 1st Thursday – Core lecture
    • 2nd Thursday – Board Review
    • 3rd Thursday – Journal Club
    • 4th Thursday – Clinical case presentation

• Successful completion of KYSS Child and Adolescent Online Mental Health fellowship sponsored by Ohio State University (~20 hours total)
• Clinical (~1600 hours) – clinical hands-on experience, including conducting standardized DBP screenings and assessments, diagnosis and treatment plans, prescribing medication when indicated, writing reports (or parts of reports) and becoming proficient in using EPIC. This is done along with the MD/APN preceptors.
• Research (~40 hours) – exposure to research activities
• Rotate with other specialties (~140 hours) – including physiatry, special needs pediatrics, inpatient acute rehabilitation and long term care; other disciplines (OT/PT/speech/psychology/ABA/rehabilitation technology).
• External educational opportunities – attendance at developmental pediatrics conference as available.

For further information contact:
Christine A. Sanpietro MSN, CPNP-PC, PMHS - APN Fellowship Program Coordinator, Lead APN Ambulatory care: e-mail csanpietro@childrens-specialized.org

Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (Physiatry) APN Fellowship

Overview:

The Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (Physiatry) APN Fellowship is an intensive 12-month program designed to provide advanced didactic education with focused clinical experience to prepare APNs to provide optimal care to children with neurobiological/developmental disabilities. The APN Fellowship Program is integrated with the ACGME Fellowship program in Pediatric Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at CSH so that APN fellows will receive comparable training and experiences in the first year. The goal of the program is to provide APNs with depth, breadth, volume, and intensity of clinical training to independently manage children with special health care needs. Fellows also complete the LEND (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities) Fellowship at the Boggs Center on Disability and Human Developmental at Rutgers University. Graduates of this APN fellowship will receive a certificate of completion from CSH. Physiatry fellows will also complete the Kessler PMR review course.

Purpose:

The Physiatry APN Fellowship program will provide the trainee with varied clinical and educational opportunities to prepare them for autonomous practice at CSH. The fellow will be provided opportunities for the following during their fellowship:

• Education on the complex developmental processes of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults, in the context of their families and communities.
• Education on biological, psychological, and social influences on development in the emotional, social, motor, language, and cognitive domains.
• Education on growth and development for children with congenital and childhood onset disabilities, throughout the life course.
• Demonstration of the application, efficacy, and selection of pediatric rehabilitation medicine assessment tools.
• Education on the clinical course, treatment modalities, and functional prognosis for common pediatric rehabilitation problems.

Team members:
Oversight of the program will be by the Program Coordinator of the APN Fellowships, in conjunction with the Chief Medical Officer and the Section Chief for Pediatric Physiatry. The primary preceptor will be an interested and willing physician who has completed a GME pediatric physiatry training program in addition to a senior APN for APN role development. The program will support one APN per year and be one year in length.

Application process:
Qualifications of the applicant include Master’s or Doctoral degree in nursing, with a minimum 3.5 GPA, national board certification as an NP, NJ state RN license and APN certification, CDS, DEA, and BLS. New graduates will be considered and prior experience as an APN is not necessary. Pediatric Nurse Practitioners are preferred, Family Nurse Practitioners with a strong pediatric nursing background will also be considered.

Application will include a narrative statement of interest in this specialty and goals for future professional growth, as well as 3 professional references.

Benefits:
The fellow will be considered a full-time salaried employee of CSH. They will be eligible for benefits/paid time off and will be a member of the medical staff. The individual chosen for the fellowship will sign a three-year employment contract, one year of full-time fellowship, and two years of full-time employment within Children's Specialized Hospital upon successful completion of the program.

The general overview of the fellow’s education time will be as follows:

• First Friday of the Month -PM&R Grand Rounds at rotating sites
• LEND Fellowship – Friday during the academic year
• Weekly morning lectures - Wednesday, Kessler, 8a-12p
• Monthly Journal Club
• Didactic lectures - with in-house MD as scheduled
• RWJ Grand Rounds
• Self-Directed -AAP, NAPNAP, PCCA
• Clinical (~1600 hours) – clinical hands-on experience, including conducting standardized Physiatry screenings and assessments, diagnosis and treatment plans, prescribing medication when indicated, writing reports (or parts of reports) and becoming proficient in using EPIC. This is done along with the MD/APN preceptors.
• Research (~40 hours) – exposure to research activities
• Rotate with other specialties (~140 hours) – including developmental pediatrics, special needs pediatrics, inpatient acute rehabilitation, chronic illness, and long-term care; other disciplines (OT/PT/speech/psychology/ABA/rehabilitation technology).
• External educational opportunities – attendance at Physiatry conferences as available.

For further information contact:
Christine A. Sanpietro MSN, CPNP-PC, PMHS - APN Fellowship Program Coordinator, Lead APN Ambulatory care: e-mail csanpietro@childrens-specialized.org

Research Fellowships

For information about research fellowships and internships please click here